MEET THE MASTERS
– Faculty –

Robert Haubt

We caught up with scientist researcher, musician and information manager, Robert Haubt, to chat about his background and the benefits of SAE’s masters’ courses.

What is your professional background?

I am an interdisciplinary researcher in Digital Humanities, exploring Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence applications with particular focus on human-computer interaction and information networking.

I started my career in Music composition for television and transitioned over the years into broadcast networking, information networking and AI.

I hold a PhD in Information Management, Librarianship and Curatorial Studies (Griffith University), a Master of Arts and Media (Griffith University) and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) (Middlesex University).

Can you share some of the projects you have worked on?

I am currently a Research Fellow with ‘Digitising The Deep Past’ at the Centre for Social and Cultural Research at Griffith University, where we explore the usefulness of AI technology within an interdisciplinary approach across STEAM Education, Cultural Heritage, Archaeology and Information and Communication Technology collaborating with Indigenous communities, schools and Rangers in the Cape York area.

Prior to my work at Griffith University I held a Research Fellowship with the Field Acquired Information Management Systems (FAIMS) project developing field based recording technologies for projects in the sciences and arts & humanities.

I further held a Research Fellowship in Digital Technologies at Macquarie University, researching digital literacy and the use of digital technologies used by researchers in arts, humanities and sciences.

Since 2012, I have been the Director for the Global Rock Art Database project, a project that aims to network rock art research information across the world to advance our understanding of some of the earliest records of humans, depicted in pictographs and petroglyphs. The project uses an ontological approach towards the Semantic Web and uses Machine Learning to assist with making sense of rock art.

My career however, started back in the 1990’s working as a music composer for the West German Broadcast and later Nickelodeon, writing music for kids television. I then transitioned into broadcast engineering, coding and eventually started networking information systems for universities and research institutions.

What do you most enjoy about teaching within the Master of Creative Industries (MCI) program?

I enjoy the small learning groups in the MCI program, which allow us to have in depth conversations within a community of lifelong learners, in which students learn from faculty staff and vice versa.

What are some of the benefits with studying an SAE Postgraduate course?

Many students within the MCI Units bring years of professional experience to the class in which we can all learn from each other. The diversity of information brought to class by students, allows us to engage in theory and practice on a much deeper level and often inspires us to ask new and more refined questions.

Asking questions is an artform and I see many MCI students grow by beginning to ask more meaningful questions that are derived from interdisciplinary community engagement within the Webinars.

What inspires you about the creative industries?

As a trained scientist, I find value in Practice Based Research within Digital Humanities, exploring the interface between humans and technology. The philosophy between how the two influence each other in a symbiotic relationship, how humans shape technology and how technology shapes us in return. I am inspired by people that bridge the gap between research and creative practice – and arts, humanities and science, like Jaaron Lanier, Audrey Tang or Beau Lotto.

Where do you see the future of the creative industries?

Creative thinking is now embedded in all industries. The creative industries in no longer something that solely sits on its own, in the future it will be part of all industries. Technology has always been part of creative thinking and innovation. As new technologies emerge it will produce new ways of thinking with new mediums.

Check out ROBERT’S WORK

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

• Haubt, R., Jalandoni, A. (2019). OPTIMIZING THE POTENTIAL OF RESEARCH DATA THROUGH AN INTEGRATED DATA MANAGEMENT APPROACH: CONSIDERING RESEARCH METHOD, DATA LIFE CYCLE, BIG DATA AND LINKED DATA IN AN ERESEARCH EXAMPLE IN AUSTRALIAN ROCK ART, ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., IV-2/W6, 77–82, 2019.
• Jalandoni, A., Taçon, P., Haubt, R. (2019). A Systematic Quantitative Literature Review of Southeast Asian and Micronesian Rock Art. Advances in Archaeological Practice. Cambridge University Press. pp.1-12.
• Haubt, Taçon (2016). A collaborative, ontological and information visualization model approach in a centralized rock art heritage platform. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
• Haubt, R. A. (2016). A Radical Collaborative Approach: Developing a Model for Learning Theory, Human-Based Computation and Participant Motivation in a Rock-Art Heritage Application, ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., III-5, 65-72, doi:10.5194/isprs-annals-III-5-65-2016, 2016.
• Haubt, R. A. (2015). The Global Rock Art Database: Developing a Rock Art Reference Model for the RADB System using the CIDOC CRM and Australian Heritage Examples, ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., II-5/W3, 89-96, 2015.
• Haubt, R. A.(2013). Virtual Heritage Archives: Building a Centralized Australian Rock Art Archive, Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XL-5/W2, 319-324, 2013.

SELECTED TALKS

• Haubt, R. (2022). Surveying The Landscape of Digital Humanities in Australia. Digital Humanities Seminar Series, Griffith University. September 2022.
• Johnson, Ian & Haubt, R. (2017). Databases and Knowledge Management. Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeological Applications (CAA), Australasia. CAAA Spring Institute, Kioloa, NSW. 4th – 8th September 2017.
• Haubt, R. (2016). Building a Knowledgebase through a Collaborative Online Community Approach in the Global Rock Art Database. Interwoven: Indigenous and Western Knowledge in Archaeology and Heritage. Australian Archaeological Association (AAA) conference. Terrigal, NSW. 6- 8 December, 2018.
• Haubt, R. (2016). Guest Talk: Use of Cyber and Virtual tools for Landscape Archaeology. Landscape Archaeology. Course Convener Dr. Adela Sobotkova. Department of Ancient History, Macquarie University.
• Haubt, R. (2016). Guest Talk: The Global Rock-Art Database Project: Building a Collaborative Open Source Platform for Heritage Management from Information Structure to Information Visualization Using Australian Heritage Examples. LAVA, University of Hawaii. Manoa, HI, USA.
• Haubt, R. (2015). The Rock Art Database: Centralizing and Streamlining Heritage Data Using the CIDOC Reference Model. Global Studies in Rock Art Analysis and Interpretation. Society for American Archaeology, 80th Annual Meeting 2015, San Francisco, USA.
• Haubt, R. (2014) The Rock Art Database: A Global Information System and Data Repository. The Life of Things. WIP Conference 2014, EMSAH, University of Queensland. Brisbane, Australia.
• Haubt, R.A., (2014), Virtual Environment Archives, A Case Study of Cultural Preservation within Australian Rock Art Archives, Emerging Scholars Day, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia.
• Haubt, R.A. (2014). Guest Lecture: Rock Art in the 21st Century: The State of Australian Heritage Archives. Rock Art in the 21st Century. Course Convener Prof. P. Taçon, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia.
• Haubt, R., (2013). An Open Source Approach to Centralize Rock Art Data in Australia. Scale and Granularity in Archaeological Data Management. Australian Archaeological Association (AAA) Conference, 2-6 December, (2013). Coffs Harbour, NSW. Australia.
• Haubt, R.A., (2013), Heritage Archives: Digitizing Rock Art Data in Australia, Combined Research Day, Griffith University, South Bank, QLD, Australia.
• Haubt, R.A., (2013), Virtual Environment Archives, A Case Study of Socio-Technological Antilogies in Cultural Preservation within Australian Rock Art Archives, Confirmation Paper Presentation, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
• Haubt, R. A. (2004). Preserving Song: An Examination of the Development and Distortion of Indigenous Music in Australia. Honors Thesis. Middlesex University, London, UK.

SELECTED PROJECTS

• Digitising The Deep Past, Centre for Social and Cultural research, Griffith University
• The Global Rock Art Database
• The Red Zone, Big Screen Installation and Griffith University
• Field Acquired Information Management Systems (FAIMS) project
• CIPA Ontology Task group, Universität Innsbruck